Nassau Street 1905 Nassau Street runs six blocks in lower Manhattan near Wall Street. As a street and as a philatelic institution it is a microcosm of how stamp collecting and dealing has changed. Stamp collecting began to be an extremely popular mainstream hobby beginning about 1900 and stamp dealers opened their doors as stand […]
A Stamp Show Every Day Read More »
For years, philatelists have decried the lackluster philatelic marketing that the USPS has given to our hobby. New issues have been well designed and created with an eye for appealing to communities that would put the stamps away and not use them (which is, after all, the Post Office’s main goal). And the new issues have
The $264,000 Question Read More »
Paper seems very much the same to non–collectors, and certainly, in the modern period, collectors have had to pay very little attention to issues caused by paper. The United States printed its first stamps on a very hard, thin paper and continued using harder, thinner paper until about 1890. After 1890, the American Bank Note
Careless Handling Read More »
There is surprising uniformity of color on early stamps. The first stamp, the Penny Black, was
Evolution of Color and Shade in Philately Read More »
One of the most exciting aspects of philately (and one of its most popular until about 1940) is plating. Plating is a subspecialty that is usually only available on classic engraved stamps. When stamps are printed from the engraved (or intaglio) process a single die is created by the master engraver. How that die is
Until about twenty years ago, mint sheet collecting was scorned. Mint sheets were large and hard to store. They didn’t display well, and great care had to be taken to see that they didn’t split along the perforations, something that greatly affects the value. The very nature of philately is to collect and mount your
Classic Mint Sheets Read More »
Perhaps the most ridiculous man made disaster of our lifetime is closer and closer to coming about. I have refrained from writing about it as it seemed inconceivable that the United States House of Representatives would actually renege on the debts and legal obligations of the United States. This is the same group who is
We bought the lifetime collection of a Walter Lewis recently. He had never sold a single stamp or album or cover so his collection is perfect for analyzing philatelic life cycles. Lewis began collecting stamps in 1940 at the age of 11. His first album was the Scott International Junior album. The Scott Publishing Company had began publishing the
Stamp Collecting Life Cycles Read More »
Most of us grew up collecting stamps that were sent to us from the H. E. Harris company. Henry Harris founded his business in the 1920s and was a tireless promoter of philately. During the Great Depression, he sponsored radio shows and advertised extensively, introducing a generation of collectors to his approval method of buying
H E Harris -America’s Greatest Stamp Dealer Read More »